Copyright Watch - Petition To Reclaim The Public Domain

by , 12:00 PM EDT, June 5th, 2003

An online petition asks the US Congress to reconsider the implications that the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act has on the valuable resources in the public domain. Launched on June 3rd, the petition highlights the need for the government to consider the effects that unlimited copyright protection has had on culturally valuable work, and asks that the Congress considers alternate legislation that would allow older copyrighted works to fall into the public domain when they have reached the end of their useful commercial lifepsan. Lawrence Lessig, a supporter of the alternative Public Domain Enhancement Act (or the Eric Eldred Act), said this week:

"I believe it was a mistake that Congress passed a law that extended the copyright term and that the US Supreme Court affirmed it," said Lessig, who spearheaded Act I-- Eldred v. Ashcroft-- the unsuccessful constitutional challenge to the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) before the Supreme Court last October. "But whether or not it makes sense to extend the copyright term for works that are being commercially exploited, it makes no sense to extend the copyright term for works that have exhausted their commercial life."

The petition cites Justice Breyer's dissent in Eldred, where he calculated that only 2% of the work copyrighted during the initial 20 years affected by the CTEA has any continuing commercial value at all. If the creators chose not to pay the fee, the Public Domain Enhancement Act would allow the remaining works to enter the public domain, so that new creators could use them to develop innovative new works.

More information about the petition and the Public Domain Enhancement Act can be found at the Eric Eldred Act Web site, and sign the petition at PetitionOnline.com. At the time of writing, there are over 8,400 signatures since its beginning on June 3rd.

The Mac Observer Spin:

Anyone who assumes that people don't care about the public domain is deluding themselves: eight thousand signatures in about a day, assisted in part by a lively Slashdot discussion, is powerful evidence that people are interested in what happens with copyrighted works in the future.

We encourage you to get involved in this discussion, as the abuse of copyright affects everyone.

The Eric Eldred Act: Media Release, June 3rd